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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193961">Poison and Bad Luck</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilighteve/pseuds/twilighteve'>twilighteve</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Honorary Duck Family Member Lena (Disney: Ducktales), LENA GETS A HUG, Parent Donald Duck, lena has thoughts about herself and feels down and donald cheers her back up basically, lena needs a hug, no beta we die like men, no edit either we still die like men, she doesn't feel that way yet but donald already thinks of her that way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:34:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27193961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilighteve/pseuds/twilighteve</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“You didn’t need to read that,” Donald said, closing the book.<br/>Lena wiped her tears away. “Doesn’t matter. It confirmed what I thought, anyway.”<br/>“…what do you mean?”<br/>Lena barked out a bitter laugh. “I’m just the same as Magica. I poison everything I touch.”</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lena feels down. Donald cheers her back up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Donald Duck &amp; Lena (Disney: DuckTales)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>206</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Poison and Bad Luck</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She glared at the lady that held his stance, steadfast and stubborn, scowling at her. She needed to go in and the lady <em>would not budge</em>.</p>
<p>“I <em>need</em> to go check something and Scrooge said it’s in the archives here,” she said. “I already got his permission!”</p>
<p>“The archives are for family only,” the librarian said stubbornly.</p>
<p>“Seriously?!” Lena yelled. She gestured sharply at the girl by her side. “I have Webby with me!”</p>
<p>The librarian glanced at Webby and stubbornly scowled. “<em>Family only</em>,” she reiterated.</p>
<p>Lena groaned loudly and jolted when a hand – bigger than Webby’s, warmer, somehow stronger and gentler at the same time – gripped her by the shoulder. “It’s okay, she’s with me,” a scratchy voice said, and sure enough, when Lena looked up it was Donald Duck by her side.</p>
<p>The librarian’s scowl deepened.</p>
<p>Donald matched her expression. “Emily, <em>she’s with me</em>.”</p>
<p>They glared at each other for a moment, and Lena and Webby stared awkwardly. In the end, the librarian sighed and stepped aside.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Donald said stiffly, guiding Lena inside.</p>
<p>Webby followed. “Alright, Lena. What did you say you want to look up, again?”</p>
<p>Lena jerked. “Uhhh.”</p>
<p>Donald seemed to sense her discomfort and immediately turned to Webby. “Actually, Webby? I think the boys were asking where you were.”</p>
<p>“Oh! Um,” Webby glanced at Lena uncertainly. “But…”</p>
<p>“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” Lena assured. “I have Donald here helping me.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Webby said with a small smile. “See you later.”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>They watched Webby walk out of the library and looked at each other. Donald seemed to realize he was still holding Lena’s shoulder, and he let go at last. Lena found herself wondering why the lingering warmth felt like longing.</p>
<p>“What book are you looking for?” Donald asked.</p>
<p>“Uh, shadow magic,” Lena answered automatically. She slapped herself mentally at the answer and watched Donald blink with trepidation. She hadn’t wanted to tell him that.</p>
<p>“…magic stuff is this way,” was all Donald said after glancing around for clues where to go. He led Lena to a section of books that looked suspiciously shinier than others, as if they were barely touched at all. Donald saw her squinting at the books and snorted. “Uncle Scrooge doesn’t like magic,” he said simply.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Lena said, and felt something curdle in her gut. She escaped Donald’s inquiring gaze and took out a book at random and flipped to see the table of contents, checking to see if there was anything on shadow magic in it. When she found none, she sighed and closed it irritably.</p>
<p>Donald handed her a book, and she started when it entered her line of sight. “Shadow magic stuff is in chapter thirteen,” he told her. She took the book, murmured a thanks, and started reading.</p>
<p>There wasn’t much of what she was looking for in the book. There were mentions of shadow magic, but nothing noteworthy enough to really pay attention to. Only something about darkness, and that was basically it. Lena closed the book and searched for more. Donald handed her another book wordlessly, and she accepted it, reading some more. Like before, it didn’t help much.</p>
<p>She looked around, saw a promising-looking tome, and went to take it.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t read that one,” Donald spoke up, and Lena turned. She realized belatedly that he had two stacks of books by his sides. “That’s about magical locations. Nothing about shadow magic.” He handed her another book. “Try this one.”</p>
<p>She took the book and eyed the two stacks. “What are those?”</p>
<p>“One is useful for your search. One isn’t,” Donald said cryptically.</p>
<p>Lena hummed and snatched a book on the pile that Donald had deemed useless. “I’m checking anyway,” she said, flipping the book open even as Donald tensed in protest.</p>
<p>The pages flipped easily under her fingers. Words and illustrations danced in her eyes and she found herself paralyzed by the content.</p>
<p>
  <em>Magic reflects the user’s nature.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shadow magic is a subset of darkness magic.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Darkness magic users have a tendency to spread their darkness. This could in the form of negative feelings and influencing others to feel the same way. They may also pull others into their magical orbit which may take form in nightmares. Another common influence is being a cause of misfortunes.</em>
</p>
<p>The book was wrenched away from her fingers, and she gasped and looked up. Her gaze was blurry. She hadn’t realized she’d teared up.</p>
<p>“You didn’t need to read that,” Donald said, closing the book.</p>
<p>Lena wiped her tears away. “Doesn’t matter. It confirmed what I thought, anyway.”</p>
<p>“…what do you mean?”</p>
<p>Lena barked out a bitter laugh. “I’m just the same as Magica. I poison everything I touch.”</p>
<p>“You don’t.”</p>
<p>“I do. I got Webby and the others stuck in my dream.” Lena looked away. “They said it’s okay and I’m not like Magica, but clearly the magic I have puts everyone in danger.”</p>
<p>Donald stared at her and groaned into his hand. “Augh, I thought I’d deal with this with Louie in a few years…” He took a deep breath and looked at her in the eyes. “Look, Lena. You’re not Magica. You don’t poison things.”</p>
<p>“How do you know? You don’t even know what I’m going through!” Lena hissed. She tried to keep her voice down, realizing they were in a library, but it was getting hard to do. The amulet at her chest buzzed with her feelings and began to glow. Lena glared at it and willed it to calm, but it only glowed brighter as Lena grew more agitated.</p>
<p>Donald came to her and held her by her shoulders, and she looked up in surprise. The amulet dimmed.</p>
<p>“I don’t have to go through the exact same thing to understand,” he said. “You’re not the only person who feels like you’re poisoning everything you touch.”</p>
<p>Another bark of bitter laugh. “What even are you talking about, old man? You raised triplets on your own. You don’t poison. You let them grow.”</p>
<p>“That’s not what I felt after losing job for who knows how many times and having to feed them bread and frozen veggies,” Donald said wryly, and Lena found herself silent. “I’m bad luck, Lena.”</p>
<p>“No you’re not, you got loving family and everything,” Lena argued.</p>
<p>“I lose jobs on the regular, I’ve ruined countless shirts because I trip and rip them, I don’t know how many times I got dirty because I got splashed when some car go through a puddle.” Donald’s smile was tired and longsuffering. “There were times when I was sure Della got stuck in the moon because she caught my bad luck.”</p>
<p>Lena blinked and stared at him. He led her to sit on the floor, the stack of books he made earlier forgotten, and leaned to the bookshelves. Lena followed.</p>
<p>Donald sighed. “Uncle Scrooge said you reminded him of me. I think I understand why, now.” He glanced at her and grinned. “My hair was like yours when I was your age.”</p>
<p>“I don’t see it.”</p>
<p>“If you ask Uncle Scrooge I’m sure he’ll have photos.” His eyes widened. “Wait, no, don’t.”</p>
<p>“Too late, I’m asking him later.”</p>
<p>“Ah, phooey.” Donald leaned back and let his head thump to the shelf. “It’s not just that, though. We both blame ourselves for things that we’re not at fault for.”</p>
<p>Lena breathed. “Like the… bad luck.”</p>
<p>“And poison.” Donald turned to look at her. “You’re not poison. Just because you came from Magica doesn’t mean you have to be like her.”</p>
<p>“I was literally her shadow,” Lena scoffed.</p>
<p>“Yeah? You’re not anymore. Clearly you’re already building your own identity outside of her.”</p>
<p>“It’s not – “ Lena shook her head. “My magic is the same as hers.”</p>
<p>“That’s just a subset of magic. My cousin Gladstone is supernaturally lucky, and he’s kind of a dick. You having magic like Magica’s doesn’t make you a bad person,” Donald argued.</p>
<p>“Stop logicking my points away,” Lena grumbled. “You’re making good points but I still feel shitty because of the whole magic being bad thing.”</p>
<p>“Your magic isn’t bad.”</p>
<p>“The book literally said my magic spreads. And that it reveals my nature.”</p>
<p>“Well the book isn’t right. Gladstone’s luck and him being kind of a dick shouldn’t be a thing if it is.” Donald paused and scratched his cheek. “Though, maybe he’s like that more because he never really has to face any challenge before. Everything comes easy for him because of his luck.”</p>
<p>Lena glared at him. “Okay, how are you so good at logicking this thing?”</p>
<p>“Had a lot of practice,” Donald answered with a shrug. “I learned that it’s not healthy to just keep thinking I’m all bad luck and blame myself for everything. I’ve been trying to beat the thought away. I’m not always successful.”</p>
<p>“Then… what do you do when it’s not successful?”</p>
<p>“Try to do something productive. And family helps.”</p>
<p>“Easy for you to say,” Lena sighed. “You have so many people who love you.”</p>
<p>Donald peered down at her. “You do, too.”</p>
<p>Lena looked away.</p>
<p>“Webby loves you,” Donald pointed out. “You’re her first friend outside the triplets. Which is saying something, since they’re her first friends. Violet loves you, too. And the triplets.” When Lena didn’t answer, he huffed. “Come on, now. Don’t make me hug the sad away.”</p>
<p>“If my magic will eventually harm them then I don’t deserve any of it,” Lena said stubbornly.</p>
<p>Donald fell quiet, and then there was a rustle of clothes and feathers and suddenly Lena found herself pressed to his chest, enveloped in warm, strong arms that held her tight. She blinked, body tensing, before the fact that she was hugged registered in her mind and she found herself melting into the embrace.</p>
<p>“You deserve as much love as you can get,” Donald said. His voice was heavy and thick, and his breath was warm against the feathers in Lena’s head. “I don’t care if you think you don’t deserve it. I’m giving it to you anyway.”</p>
<p>“I’ll poison you, too,” Lena whispered.</p>
<p>“You’re not poison, and it doesn’t matter. I’m bad luck anyway.”</p>
<p>She frowned. “You’re not bad luck. You’re… helping me. I wouldn’t feel helped if you were really bad luck.”</p>
<p>“Good. And you’re not going to poison anything. Webby wouldn’t like hanging out with you if you were.”</p>
<p>Lena laughed weakly. She reached up to hug Donald back and breathed she sea salt in his shirt.</p>
<p>“In any case, you really need to talk more about this to someone,” Donald said again, running his fingers through Lena’s hair. It was alarming how soothing it was. “Is there anyone you can talk to about this?”</p>
<p>Lena snorted. “Of course not. No one even believe magic exists outside your family.”</p>
<p>Donald hummed. “Well, you can always talk to me.”</p>
<p>“What, so you can get me into your kid collection?”</p>
<p>Donald shook, and it took Lena a moment to realize he was stifling laughter. “Lena,” he said, with surprising amount of patience, “I already think of you that way.”</p>
<p>Something in her brain short-circuited. “Um?”</p>
<p>“You’re Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby’s friend. Of course I care about you the way I care about them.”</p>
<p>“Um??”</p>
<p>Donald’s hug tightened for a moment, then loosened. “It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with it. I’m gonna stop hugging you now.”</p>
<p>Lena gripped him closer instead. “No, it’s okay, I was just surprised,” she blurted in hurry. “Can – can I call you Uncle? Like the others?”</p>
<p>Donald’s hand found its way to Lena’s hair again, and Lena decided she liked it when he smoothed her hair the way he was doing now. “Of course,” he said, and he sounded choked up, as if holding back tears. “Call me uncle if you want.”</p>
<p>She snuggled closer into his chest for a moment, then reluctantly let go. Uncle Donald did the same. “Let’s read some more,” she said, leaning into Uncle Donald’s space and finding herself reluctant to get too far away. “I still need to find a way to control the magic.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Uncle Donald answered readily. He plucked a book and handed it to her. “Try this one.”</p>
<p>Lena skimmed the table of contents. “How do you know all these books? It’s like you’re familiar with all of them.”</p>
<p>“I’ve read a lot of them,” Uncle Donald admitted. He pulled Lena in again so she leaned to his chest. “Go to chapter three. It has more info on magical control.”</p>
<p>Lena complied. The falling silence that followed them was peaceful.</p>
<p>“Thanks, Uncle Donald,” Lena whispered after a while.</p>
<p>“You’re welcome, Lena.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>wrote a little something for discord. heyooo, this is less fluff and more hurt/comfort, but have at it anyway</p>
<p>anyway, hope you enjoyed this! also, come yell at me at my tumblr. <a href="https://trash-raccoon.tumblr.com/">trash-raccoon</a> for my main blog and <a href="https://twilighteve-writes.tumblr.com/">twilighteve-writes</a> for my writing blog.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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